The
man who murdered Opry star David “Stringbean” Akeman and his wife in
1973 appeared before parole board members April 23rd to ask to be
released. John A. Brown, and his cousin Doug Marvin Brown, killed the
Akemans in what they claimed was a botched robbery on November 10th,
1973. The two men had been at the couple’s cabin when they returned
from the Opry. John shot Stringbean as he entered the home, before
chasing his wife Estelle into the front yard and shooting her in the
back of the head. According to Nashville’s newspaper, the Tennessean,
John and Doug were both sentenced to two life sentences, but Doug died
in prison in 2003. “I’m truly sorry,” Brown said at the hearing, “I
can’t undo anything to change my past. I’ve spent the last 40 years
changing my life.” Brown appeared before two of seven parole board
members to try to explain how 40 years in prison has change him. A
final decision is expected within two weeks, after the five remaining
board members review the case. “I don’t want him to see another breath
of free air,” Grand Ole Opry member, and close friend of the Akemans,
Jan Howard said at the hearing. “It was a robbery gone bad, a burglary
gone bad, it was premeditated.”
Bob Everhart for Country Music News International